Certificates of good standing, business name registrations, and corporate extracts from Ontario Business Registry (issued since 1991) or equivalent provincial registries are public records with registry signatures. Ontario ODS handles these directly. Other provinces follow their standard provincial routes.

Corporate documents involving private parties - board resolutions, shareholder agreements, powers of attorney - need notarization before apostille. An Ontario notary certifies the document, and the notarized copy goes to ODS.

Powers of attorney (POA) are private documents that must be notarized before apostille. The notary witnesses the signatures of the parties granting the power, applies their seal, and includes a formal notarial statement. The notarized POA goes to the competent authority in the province where the notarization occurred.

Common rejection points for POAs:

• Missing or unclear notarial statement
• Grantor signed without the notary physically present
• Notary commission lapsed
• Obscured or illegible seal
• Document signed in one province but notarized in a second province without clarity on governing law

For POAs related to real estate in Spain or Italy, confirm whether those countries require a specific notarial certificate format - some do, and it differs from the standard Canadian notarial statement.

The Hague Convention explicitly excludes documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. Commercial invoices, customs declarations, certificates of origin for import/export, and bills of lading fall outside the Convention's scope.

If a trading partner asks for an apostille on a commercial invoice, clarify whether they actually mean a certificate of good standing or a different public document. The apostille is not available for trade-specific customs paperwork.